Haiti: Earthquakes - Jan 2010

Glide: EQ-2010-000009-HTI

Overview

The earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 Jan 2010 affected almost 3.5 million people, including the entire population of 2.8 million people living in the capital, Port-au- Prince. The Government of Haiti estimates that the earthquake killed 222,570 and injured another 300,572 people. Displacement peaked at close to 2.3 million people, including 302,000 children. At least 188,383 houses were badly damaged and 105,000 were destroyed by the earthquake. Sixty per cent of Government and administrative buildings, 80 per cent of schools in Port-au-Prince and 60 per cent of schools in the South and West Departments were destroyed or damaged. Total earthquake-related loss is estimated at $7.8 billion, equivalent to more than 120 per cent of Haiti’s 2009 gross domestic product. (UN General Assembly, 2 Sep 2011)

According to the Humanitarian Action Plan for Haiti 2014 an estimated 172,000 people remained internally displaced in Haiti in 306 camps at the end of 2013, almost four years after the earthquake. Basic services in camps, including WASH and health, had declined faster than the pace of return or relocation of the displaced. 16,377 displaced families living in 52 camps were considered at high risk of forced evictions. Almost 80,000 people lived in 67 camps considered to be at particularly high risk of flooding, with an additional 30 camps at additional environmental risks.

By mid-2014, an estimated 104,000 people remained internally displaced in 172 camps. Almost 70,000 IDPs were not currently targeted by any return or relocation programs. (OCHA, 31 Jul 2014) By Sep, 85,432 people remained internally displaced in 123 camps. (IOM, 8 Oct 2014)

The Guidance Note on Recovery: Private Sector draws from the wider body of knowledge on private sector recovery and from documented experiences of past and present disaster planning and recovery e orts. Materials have been collected through desk review and direct consultations with relevant experts. These experiences and lessons learned are classi ed into the following four major issues:

The 2015 International Annual Report describes how SOS Children’s Villages around the world supported children and strengthened families and communities in 2015 through community-integrated responses in care, education, health and emergency services.

The 573 SOS Children’s Villages around the world in 2015 are described as ‘care and protection hubs’ for their local communities, as they provided a range of locally-tailored services to support vulnerable children.

28 MILLION PEOPLE FORCIBLY DISPLACED BY CONFLICT AND DISASTERS IN 2015 AND MILLIONS MORE STILL INVISIBLE: IDMC NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS GLOBAL CRISIS OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT

Conflict, violence and disasters internally displaced 27.8 million people in 2015, subjecting a record number of men, women and children to the trauma and upheaval of being forcibly displaced within their own country.

Persons with disabilities often experience discrimination and exclusion, despite the adoption of an increasingly rights-based approach to humanitarian assistance. The past three decades have witnessed a growing awareness of disability issues and the emergence and spread of disabled people’s organisations.

The growing awareness must be accompanied by practical measures to identify and reduce the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in an emergency situation.

All children deserve safe, accessible and culturally appropriate school buildings — regardless of class, creed, gender or ability. When children live in hazard-prone places where high winds, earthquakes, floods and other hazards threaten them, they need schools and grounds that protect them.

Yet recent disasters around the world attest to the fragility of many schools.

Ukraine: Fears are growing of a new offensive in Mariupol, as non-government troops appear to be gathering nearby. A recent assessment has found that more than 1.6 million people need humanitarian assistance, nearly 1.1 million of whom are in non-government-controlled areas. 20–30% of IDPs are at risk of losing their status and benefits, due to a new mechanism to verify the addresses of IDPs.

In Syria, heavy fighting is ongoing in Rural Damascus, Dar’a, Aleppo, Idleb and Homs, with government forces making gains in Rural Damascus while the opposition has won ground in Dar’a. Despite the call of al-Qaeda’s leader for opposition fighters to unite, inter-group fighting has escalated in Aleppo over control for neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, the Syrian National Council announced that it did not intend to participate in the proposed Geneva II peace talks.

In the last 20 years, the world has saved more than 50 million children’s lives and reduced maternal mortality by one-third. These accomplishments have been the result of good science, good management, bipartisan political support, the engagement of USAID and many other U.S. Government agencies, and the participation of faith-based organizations, civil society, and the private sector.

With the onset of winter this month in the Himalayan region of India, thousands of families left homeless and traumatized by the September 18 earthquake there are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is working with partner Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA-India), a member of ACT Alliance, to provide urgently needed relief supplies to 1,000 of those families in Sikkim state.

Flood-related disasters this year in Australia, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Sri Lanka and the United States of America – to name but a few – have yet again highlighted that all nations are susceptible to the damaging effects of major storms and flood events. Population growth, urban development and environmental degradation in coastal areas, combined with the impacts of climate change, are expected to increase the risks.

SILVER SPRING, Md. - On June 20th, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) will be joining millions of people around the world who recognize and remember the plight of millions of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), by pledging continued support on World Refugee Day.